1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sweepers. In one aspect, the invention relates to a sweeper with a dust bin accessible from the top of the sweeper for facile removal and emptying of the dust bin. In another aspect, the invention relates to a sweeper with enhanced mobility and cleaning ability.
2. Description of the Related Art
Sweepers are well known devices for removing dirt, dust, and other debris from a floor surface. Typically, sweepers comprise a foot or base assembly with at least one primary agitator, such as a horizontal axis brush roll. The agitator can be power driven, such as by a motor. An exemplary powered floor sweeper wherein a rotating sweeper brush is rotated by a direct current electric motor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,539 to Nordeen. In Nordeen '539, a cavity at a rear end of the sweeper houses a DC motor and a battery supply to provide power for the motor.
Alternatively, sweepers can be driven by manual propulsion. Typically, manually-propelled sweepers have one or more driving wheels operatively coupled to the agitator and configured to contact the floor surface. As a user pushes the sweeper across the floor surface, the driving wheels rotate and then impart the rotation to the agitator. Most commonly, one or more driving wheels are coupled directly to the agitator for rotation therewith. In one well-known arrangement, a pair of driving wheels is directly connected to the agitator, and the wheels are positioned on opposite sides of the agitator. If the sweeper is turned sharply, the wheel positioned on the outermost edge of the turn radius is required to cover a longer distance than the inner wheel.
In addition to the primary agitator, floor sweepers can include edge agitators, also driven by manual propulsion or some other means. An exemplary manual propulsion floor sweeper having, in addition to its main brush roller, one or more auxiliary brushes for sweeping debris into the path of the main brush is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,539 to Yonkers. In Yonkers '539, auxiliary brushes are located at the forward corners of the sweeper housing and rotate in a direction to throw debris along the edge of the sweeper housing towards the middle of sweeper housing where the debris can be picked up by the main rotating brush. Other patents disclosing edge brushes include, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 500,976 to Tangenberg; U.S. Pat. No. 3,750,215 to Liebscher; U.S. Pat. No. 3,818,532 to Leifheit et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,484,371 to Pätzold et al.
Usually, the primary agitator throws the dirt, dust, and other debris into a dust bin. In some sweepers, the dust bin is a cavity that can be emptied by opening a panel in the sweeper housing. Other sweepers comprise a separate dust bin mounted in the sweeper housing, and the dust bin can be removed from the sweeper for emptying. For example, Great Britain U.S. Pat. No. 1,442,587 to Moulinex discloses a sweeper with a separate dust bin that can be removed from the sweeper housing after lifting a cover on the sweeper housing to gain access to the dust bin.
Sweepers also comprise a handle assembly pivotally mounted to the foot assembly for moving the sweeper across the surface to be cleaned. When the sweeper is not in use, the user can rest handle assembly against a wall for storage, or the sweeper can preferably include a mechanism for retaining the handle assembly in a generally vertical storage position. Examples of such retaining mechanisms are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,447 to Ophardt; U.S. Pat. No. 2,057,181 to Bloom; U.S. Pat. No. 255,823 to Soper, U.S. Pat. No. 2,406,247 to Owen; U.S. Pat. No. 2,975,450 to Williams; U.S. Pat. No. 3,034,163 to Stevens; U.S. Pat. No. 4,168,561 to Rosendall; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,935 to Jailor
Customarily, the sweeper handle assembly comprises an elongated stick-like portion that can be grasped by a user while standing an upright position. A segmented upright pivotal handle for a vacuum cleaner is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,345,411 to Kato et al., wherein upper handle segments can be removed so that the vacuum cleaner can be utilized as a hand held unit in addition to a conventional upright unit.